Between the Stacks
by EnchantedPixie495
Summary: He closed the book, stuffed it in his pocket, and went back to studying; her bright smile imprinted in his mind once more. Song fic in response to Harmony and Co.'s Lyrical Llama Challenge.


**Please note that this fic was written for the Harmony & Co.'s Lyric Llama Challenge! It was inspired by the lyrics from the song _It's Your Love_ by _Tim McGraw_. I claim no ownership of the song; I only used it as inspiration.**

* * *

_"It's your love; it just does something to me,_

_It sends a shock right through me._

_I can't get enough._

_And if you wonder, about the spell I'm under,_

_Oh it's your love."_

* * *

"Harry! Look at what I found!"

Looking up, he spots Hermione holding a tiny worn book running his way.

Although the war has ended, he and Hermione decided to go back to Hogwarts for their 'eighth year' once the tensions lessened somewhat during the summer. Ron decided to go straight to the ministry and has taken advantage of his status as a war hero to get a job without having to take the required NEWTs for it.

Smiling at Hermione's vibrant visage, he remembered when she decided to start catching up in all of the subjects she is planning to tackle for her exams. He was certain she expected him to decline and go do something else, but the look of shock on her face was priceless when he recommended them to check the library in Grimmauld Place before going to shop for additional study materials.

Plopping in the seat in front of him, Hermione thrust the book in his face, "I cannot believe that _Flora and Fauna, Obscure Potion Ingredients_ was in your library all along! I mean, it had been referenced in all of the potion books we have used and—"

Harry nodded along, awestruck by her enthusiasm…

"—I mean, no matter how much I searched for it in Flourish and Blots—"

… Her sparkling eyes…

"—and I did ask around you know, but no matter how much I searched for—"

… Her bushy hair…

"—it I just couldn't find it! So Harry, please—"

… Her radiant smile…

"—can I borrow it from you for a little while?"

Mesmerized, Harry nodded. "Sure Hermione, whatever you want. You can borrow it for as long as you want."

Squealing, Hermione pounced at him, hugging him tightly. "Thank you, thank you, and thank you!" Dislodging herself from him, she ran back between the stacks, not noticing she left a fiercely blushing Harry in her path.

Taking a deep breath, Harry forced himself to calm his heart. He feels that if she had hugged him for even a second more, he would have combusted right here and there. Shaking his head and taking out his quill, he went back to his studies, her smile imprinted in his head.

* * *

She cannot stand it any longer.

Walking back to the table arms ladled with books, Hermione pauses and stares at the site before her. Bent over a book, his gaze intently staring at the book in front of him, Hermione cannot help but feel elated.

When she mentioned a little over a month ago her intention to study ahead before going back to school, she half-expected Harry to tag alongside Ron all the way to the Ministry; heaven knows how many times he and Ron avoided joining her in the library during the years. When she heard them talking about job opportunities; she had already resigned herself to go to Hogwarts by herself. She half-heartedly hoped they would join her for one last year, but she had gotten so used to their avoidance of studying, that she had already prepared herself to the eventuality of doing so on her own.

Thank goodness that did not happen.

So it was a shock when she saw Harry between the stacks in Flourish and Blots, browsing the shelves. When she asked what he was doing there, he just… told her that he was there for the same reason she was: to buy their textbooks. She was thrilled and proceeded to talk about what they wanted to study in school.

He never mentioned why he decided not to join the Ministry immediately, so she never asked. Now though, with a few days left for them to go to Hogwarts, the curiosity has been getting to her. She refrained previously, hesitant to disturb this easy understanding and acceptance, but now… she isn't so sure.

Staring at him from between the stacks, his muscles protruding thanks to the slightly tight shirt he is wearing, she cannot help but admire his lithe and strong physique. Remembering how her body pressed against his when she hugged him, her stomach fluttered; face turning red. Taking a shaky breath, she forced herself to calm down, forcing her blush to subside. Squaring her shoulders, she walked towards the table.

Hermione carefully placed the books on the table and sat down. Organizing the stack based on topics, she took out a piece of parchment and proceeded to write. The only sounds that can be heard are the scratching of the quills on parchment and the turning of the pages. The atmosphere shifted the more time passed. She couldn't hold back her curiosity any longer.

She gulped.

"So… I have been meaning to ask, but… why did you decide to go back to Hogwarts? I mean, I know you had the opportunity to go directly to the Ministry but… I am not so sure why you didn't."

He looked up and stared directly at her, his lips tugging upwards slightly, "I honestly expected you to ask that way sooner," he said. Writing a quick note in the parchment beside him, he put the quill down and stretched, back cracking ominously.

Unable to look away, she cannot help but marvel at the way his body tensed up then relaxed. Once done, he leaned forward, head resting against his hand.

"So before I answer that question, I would like to ask; why didn't you ask me sooner?"

* * *

Immediately after he had asked, she blushed and looked down, biting her lip. Hermione looked absolutely adorable when she does that, Harry thought. Honestly, his favorite thing to do these days is engaging her in some sort of intellectual discussion. It never failed to brighten up her face. If he had known that having those sorts of discussions with her would make her so happy, he would have done so ages ago.

Honestly, the fact that he didn't notice that before made him feel like banging his head against the wall.

Oh well, Harry thought staring at her, late better than never I guess.

Noticing she hadn't answered the question yet, he tilted his head. "Oi, are you there?"

* * *

Hermione jumped a little, startling herself out of her thoughts. Releasing her lip, she looked up at Harry, noticing his emerald green eyes boring through her. Taking a deep breath, she smiled. "Well… I… was kind of scared."

He quirked his eyebrow, "Scared? What of?"

She gulped, heart beating frantically in her chest, "Scared that you will change your mind and join Ron in the Ministry," she mumbled quietly.

Harry heard her though and straightened up, his eyes widening slightly. The shock and incredulous look in his face made her believe he never even thought of that. It was as if… he never even thought to go to the Ministry in the first place. Like he had planned from the get-go to join her at Hogwarts.

"I never thought of that," Harry said, confirming her thoughts.

"B-but… Didn't you and Ron talk about joining the Ministry? I thought—"

She hesitated, her mind flashing back to what she heard and saw a month ago.

Harry shook his head. "I know it is hard to believe, but the last thing I want to do is join the Ministry at the moment."

Hermione's eyes widened. This is unbelievable, she thought. How can Harry say this, when he spent most of his Hogwarts years doing everything he can to be qualified enough to be an Auror? Her thoughts must have been transparent on her face cause Harry stood up and gestured her to stand up as well.

"C' mon, let us sit somewhere more comfortable to talk about this."

Hermione woodenly nodded and stood up, walking towards one of the love seats that is in the library. She sat down on one of them and watched from a distance as Harry tidied his part of the desk. Thoughts jumbled in her head thinking about all the times Harry and Ron talked about joining the Ministry together. Heck, she can recall a few times during the hunt when they talked about what they want to do once the war is over. They mostly talked about being Aurors and becoming partners. Just what happened?

Feeling the seat inclining downwards slightly, she blinked and looked up, startled to see Harry already seated beside her. She hasn't heard him walking towards her and peeking at the desk, she can see it is completely neat. Huffing, she looked up at him and mockingly glared at him, crossing her arms on her chest. Ignoring the heat on her cheeks, she started talking, forcing the small blush to subside.

"So… If you do not want to go to the Ministry — and heaven knows how many times I heard you and Ron talk about that – then what exactly do you want to do?"

Harry laughed, his voice resonating across the library. He inclined backward and looked at the ceiling before closing his eyes, "I don't know… But am planning to find out"

"What?" Hermione said, tilting her head. "But…"

She frowned. "How can you not know what you want to do? Didn't you have this grand idea of becoming an Auror? Why…"

"Why didn't I take the opportunity to become one you mean?" He said. She nodded, forgetting the fact that his eyes are closed and thus, he cannot see her gesture. He still answered anyway.

He opened his eyes and sighed. "Here, let me show you why."

Standing up, he walked away towards one of the shelves and took out a leather bound book. Seemingly checking the title, he nodded and made his way back to where she is.

He gave her the book.

Curious to know what it is, she looked down at the volume she is holding and is shocked to note it is one of the many volumes that have been released after the war, seemingly another book analyzing all of the events that occurred during the Second and Third Wizarding Wars. Her eyebrows furrowed as she stared down at the book in hand_: WW – The Second and Third Wizarding Wars._

She grimaced as she remembered reading another volume with a different name, whose writings were eerily similar to the tone of Skeeters articles. She burned that book – something she never thought she would ever do – and sent a scathing Howler to the publisher. The books were retracted of course, and ever since then, she had made sure that one of the stipulations of anything that would be published with any one of the trio's names will need to be reviewed first for authenticity.

It never stopped them from trying anyway, and after a few retracted releases, she put the whole issue in the back of her mind, assured that no one is going to manage the huge feat of writing a book that is not fiction. Because seriously, with the way authors and writers in the Wizarding World cannot help but write sensationalized texts about them, it is a wonder that they didn't somehow mistake their genders yet.

Other than the first time this sort of book has been released, she never bothered to read another one of them. It would be a waste of time to do so.

She looked back up at Harry, who had been patiently standing in front of her, seemingly waiting for her to finish looking at the book.

"I don't get it."

He quirked an eyebrow and smiled tightly at her. "I guessed as much, especially after I saw your reaction when the first one of these books came out."

He walked towards the stacks and came back with his arms loaded with books and a fair number of newspaper articles. Hermione grimaced as she looked at the offending titles, although she did feel perplexed by the number of Daily Prophet articles as well. Frowning, she looked back at Harry, who had at this point sat down beside her once again.

"Okay… I still don't get it," Hermione said, avoiding looking at the stack of books that have been placed on the small table beside them."What is so special about them…?"

Harry laughed, his voice startling her somewhat. "I cannot believe I know something the great Hermione Granger does not know!"

"Oi!" She said, a light blush covering her cheeks. "That isn't nice!"

"I know it isn't… Just, let me savor this moment for a bit,"

She huffed, and turned away, forcing herself to calm down. She cannot help but look at the books on the coffee table. A total of fourteen books, she noted, all talking about the same thing. "I still don't get why you bought all of these volumes. You do know they are total crap right?"

Harry calmed down and eyed her. "I know they are, but that… Is just more of a reason to read them, you know?"

Hermione furrowed her eyebrows, "But… Why?"

He closed his eyes and gave her a weary sigh. "You know how the Daily Prophet operates. You realized how easy it is for them to twist the truth and give it a certain… flair ages ago."He opened his eyes and glimpsed at her from the corner of his eye."So, I thought, wouldn't they also do the same thing for the war? So I decided that whenever a new book came out that talk the events of the war, I'll buy a copy before it gets removed from the shelves," he grinned, "pretty smart of me right?"

He lapsed into silence, seemingly collecting his thoughts. "So every now and then, a new book will come out, and every single time I buy the new title, even though I know it will soon be taken off the shelves. I… don't know why, but… I always come back home and never fail at reading them. So after reading book after book and paper after paper, I came to this odd realization."

Harry ruffled his hair and looked up, looking deeply into her eyes. "I realized everyone expected me to do this for the rest of my life – that somehow, I will always want to go and hunt down Dark Wizards for a living once everything was over. No one… thought to think I will be tired of all of that."

Harry sighed deeply, seemingly agitated by what he just said. She can see the haunted look in his eyes, as he talked. Her gut clenched, and in a move she never thought she would dare to do she clasped his hand and threaded her fingers through his. Feeling the raised skin of his right hand, the etched words forever carved into his skin, she slowly felt his body relax, his hand loosening up in her grip.

"I am tired..." he said, "Of all of the expectations everyone has for me. Everyone expects me to continue doing what I have done for the past seven years. Now, though... I just want to do something for me. I am tired of everyone thinking everything I did and will do in my life is due to my name."

He sighed and grasped her hand tighter. "I am also tired of everyone thinking I have gone through my life because of my title and fame, and in some odd manner... that is true... but now... I am no longer burdened with that. I no longer have to be responsible for fixing the Wizarding world. For now, all I want to be... is Harry… just Harry. "

He sighed, and Hermione realized everything that was said was true. Even the few times during the fifth and sixth year when Harry expressed his want to go into Auror training, all of that seemed to have been with the goal of defeating Voldemort. Now, though… Voldemort is dead. He won't be coming back. So now…

"You are free to do whatever you want…" Hermione said voice tinged in realized wonder, "So that is why you decided to go back to Hogwarts…"

"Yep!" He said his cheeky grin back on his face. "That among… other things of course."

Hermione perked up, curiosity rearing its head. "Wait, you have another reason for going back? What is it?"

"Nope, no telling. You will need to figure it out yourself."

"That is unfair! What is it?"

Laughing, Harry whisked his wand and silently banished the books and papers to fly back through the stacks to their previous locations, not giving Hermione any time to even think of grabbing one. Not that she saw the need to do so.

"I underlined the line with my reason on one of the books. Frankly, it was such a shock to find that little gem within such a large pile of nonsense." He grinned; his eyes alight with something she cannot identify.

"Wait… You… Really?" Hermione sputtered, now looking back at the library in front of her, shelves upon shelves of books spanning the area around her. She cursed her lack of attention of where he got the books, and where he pointed his wand when he was banishing them back to their place. Honestly, it is infuriating.

"Yes really," Harry said, tucking his wand back into his wand holster. "We have… What, a few more days left for us to go back to Hogwarts? I will issue a challenge to you. If you manage to find the book and the line in question before August thirty-first, I will let you borrow as many books as you want from the library to take with you to Hogwarts. If not…"

Hermione stood up and started to make her way through the stacks, "I will find it! You'll see!" she yelled, her voice sounding at a distance.

Harry laughed as he saw Hermione disappearing between the stacks, shaking his head as he made his way back to the table they were seated in previously. He double checked his papers as he sat down, preparing himself for another round of studying. As he heard her walking back and forth between the stacks, he shook his head and took out the little book he banished into his pocket previously.

It is such a shame that Hermione is bound to lose their little bet. He will take all the books she will want to borrow later with him to Hogwarts of course, in order not to face her wrath for too long.

He opened the book at the bookmarked page and smiled softly as he read the line he underlined months ago.

_'Their meeting was fate, becoming friends was a choice, but falling in love was undoubtedly beyond anyone's control.'_

He closed the book, stuffed it in his pocket, and went back to studying; her bright smile imprinted in his mind once more.


End file.
